A new book adds to the pirate legend of Long John Silver

Aye, me hearties, there's one tall tale ye should know well by now. It be that of "Treasure Island," a sea yarn spun by a sickly scribe, named by his mother one Robert Louis Stevenson. …

Ahem. … Try that again. …

You're correct if you think Long John Silver's is a fast-food seafood chain with a strange name. But that was calculated decades ago. The company "borrowed" the name from Long John Silver, the iconic pirate in "Treasure Island" and one of the more compelling characters in neo-romantic adventure literature. Silver cut a swath through the seven seas during the Golden Age of Piracy, which lasted from 1690 to 1725.

Which leads to Chicago attorney Edward Chupack, author of the new "Silver: My Own Tale as Written by Me With a Goodly Amount of Murder" (Thomas Dunne, $23.95, 275 pages). His book, a labor of 17 years from conception to publication, is receiving unanimously good reviews from book critics.

This is Silver's "autobiography," written while the captain is locked in a cabin aboard his own ship, the Linda Maria, and while suffering from a recurring fever.

The story is set after the events in "Treasure Island," at the end of which Silver steals part of the recovered treasure from Squire John Trelawney's ship, the Hispaniola, and disappears.

On this new voyage, in 1715, we know that someone has commandeered the Linda Maria, killed Silver's crew and imprisoned Silver. The ship is en route from an atoll in the mid-Pacific to London. There, it is conjectured, Silver is to be hanged. But things aren't what they seem, as the old rogue has a few tricks left in him.

I caught up by phone with Chupack where he often drops anchor – at his office in Chicago.

Q: You being an attorney, Long John Silver likely would have run you through or cheated you on a deal.

A: He would have been way, way ahead of me, no question. But he doesn't have much use for anybody, frankly, especially if they live on land, and especially if they're in an office building.

Q: He did have one love – the larcenous Mary of the Carolinas.

A: Yes, but the tough question for me was, "If he did love her, why did he love her?" In many ways, I thought he was looking into a mirror and seeing elements of himself in her. But clearly he was captivated and had feelings for her.

Q: Why choose Long John Silver as a centerpiece?

A: What struck me when I read "Treasure Island" to my son years ago was how little Silver appears in the novel. It's really Jim Hawkins' story that Stevenson wrote "for laddies," to quote him.

So here's this great character whom we see only through others' eyes. I thought, wouldn't it be great to create a back story for him, to give him a past, a present and a future – which is my novel. He's such a great monster.

Q: In your "Author's Note," you write, "I used some of the characters (from 'Treasure Island'), changed their dispositions, placed them in different circumstances and sent them on a different quest." You're messing around with a classic. Any reader feedback on that?

A: It was hard to decide how much to appropriate from "Treasure Island." My agent, my publisher and I fully expected a backlash, but it never materialized. We anticipated people being upset and saying, "He really screwed up "Treasure Island." But after reading three pages of "Silver," people absolutely recognize this is a different story.

Q: Silver the pirate – a veteran of the British Royal Navy under Adm. Edward Hawke – loves scheming, gambling, cheating, drinking and, of course, killing. But he loves storytelling and singing, too. He's smart, witty and a talented cook.

A: Silver is meant to be likable, at least in the first half of the book. His is a rags-to-riches story, in that he rises from being a street urchin to being the captain of a pirate ship. He's a quick learner and a hard worker, he's instantly good with a sword, he's funny and he's smarter than those around him. But he has a flaw, which is he tends to kill everybody.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni, (916) 321-1128.